Overcoming impediments to virtual team effectiveness

The term virtual team denotes an organizational team whose members rarely meet face to face but who nevertheless perform interdependent tasks in pursuit of collective goals. This article identifies the unique aspects of virtual teams that generate major barriers to their effectiveness, and suggests ways in which these may be either overcome or mitigated. A process‐oriented model of virtual team effectiveness is presented, identifying issues associated with the development of transactive memory systems, work engagement, and collective efficacy as major challenges to virtual team effectiveness. These issues are illustrated with reference to the experience of virtual teams within a minerals processing firm. Finally, the authors discuss aspects of virtual team leadership and team climate that may help overcome some of the potential process losses associated with virtual teamwork. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Working Together Apart? Building a Knowledge‐Sharing Culture for Global Virtual Teams

A new impetus for greater knowledge‐sharing among team members needs to be emphasized due to the emergence of a significant new form of working known as ‘global virtual teams’. As information and communication technologies permeate every aspect of organizational life and impact the way teams communicate, work and structure relationships, global virtual teams require innovative communication and learning capabilities for different team members to effectively work together across cultural, organizational and geographical boundaries. Whereas information technology‐facilitated communication processes rely on technologically advanced systems to succeed, the ability to create a knowledge‐sharing culture within a global virtual team rests on the existence (and maintenance) of intra‐team respect, mutual trust, reciprocity and positive individual and group relationships. Thus, some of the inherent questions we address in our paper are: (1) what are the cross‐cultural challenges faced by global virtual teams?; (2) how do organizations develop a knowledge sharing culture to promote effective organizational learning among culturally‐diverse team members? and; (3) what are some of the practices that can help maximize the performance of global virtual teams? We conclude by examining ways that global virtual teams can be more effectively managed in order to reach their potential in this new interconnected world and put forward suggestions for further research.     

The effectiveness of synchronous computer-mediated communication for solving hidden-profile problems: Further empirical evidence

We experimentally compared the effectiveness of face-to-face (FTF) and synchronous computer-mediated communication when using a chat tool in solving hidden-profile business problems. In such problems, information critical to its solution is dispersed among team members and they must share it to solve the problem. Unlike prior research using hidden-profile tasks, our study used a real-world business-oriented task, established real rather than ad hoc teams, and imposed a time constraint on them. Hypotheses derived from media richness theory were found to be supported, with the results revealing that computer-mediated teams using the chat tool were less successful in exchanging and processing information than FTF teams and were thus less successful at solving the hidden-profile problem. The results also showed that, when operating under a time constraint, FTF was preferred over computer-mediated communication due to the relative immediacy of feedback and multiplicity of cues available in the FTF setting, as media richness theory predicted.     

Group development in virtual teams: An experimental reexamination

Virtual teams are thought to be experienced differently and to have poor outcomes because there is little or no face-to-face interaction and a tendency for virtual team members to use different communication techniques for forming relationships. However, the expanding use of virtual teams in organizations suggests that virtual teams in real world contexts are able to overcome these barriers and be experienced in much the same way as face-to-face teams. This paper reports the result of an experiment in which virtual teams participated in an exercise where they completed an information-sharing task ten times as a team. The results suggest that, contrary to one-shot, ad hoc virtual teams, longer-lived virtual teams follow a sequential group development process. Virtual team development appears to differ from face-to-face teams because the use of computer-mediated communication heightens pressure to conform when a virtual team is first formed, meaning trust is most strongly linked with feeling that the team was accomplishing the task appropriately. As the virtual teams developed, trust in peers was more strongly linked with goal commitment. Once the teams were working together effectively, accomplishing the task appropriately was the strongest link with trust in peers. I suggest that virtual team managers should cultivate virtual workspaces that are similar to those proven to work in face-to-face contexts: (1) teams should have clear, specific goals, (2) members should be encouraged or even required to communicate with each other, and (3) team members should feel that they might work with the other team members again.     

Perceived discontinuities and constructed continuities in virtual work

Boundaries such as time, distance, organisation and culture have been a useful conceptual tool for researchers to unpack changes in the virtual work environment, moving from a dichotomous perspective that contrasts face‐to‐face and virtual work to a more nuanced hybrid perspective. However, researchers may tacitly assume that all members of a virtual team and virtual teams collectively will respond to a boundary in a similar way. We posit instead that boundaries are a dynamic phenomenon and may have different consequences under different circumstances. We offer organisational discontinuity theory as a tool for more focused investigation of the virtual work environment. Discontinuities and continuities describe the setting in which individuals in a virtual team operate, both actual work practices and the perceptions of the individuals in the virtual work environment. The terms offer a starting point to identify and understand what may otherwise seem to be paradoxical differences in how virtual team members respond to boundaries.     

Virtual team meetings: An analysis of communication and context

We report a simulation study of virtual team meetings. Participants role-played companies collaborating on a design problem while supported by a range of IT tools, such as videoconferencing and shared applications. Meetings were analysed to investigate how sharing computing facilities, operating the technology, and company status, influenced communications. Significantly more talk occurred in larger teams where participants shared I.T. facilities BUT this extra talk was restricted to talk within a single location. No extra talk was shared across the virtual team via the communications link. Where facilities were shared, technology controllers dominated cross-site talk. To encourage free communication across distributed virtual teams we recommend providing each participant with their own communications facility even if this is technologically less advanced than if technology support were shared.     

Training to improve virtual team communication

Abstract. Organizations are utilizing virtual teams, comprising workgroup members who communicate and collaborate with technology, to accomplish tasks. These teams are geographically distributed and communicate via computer-mediated communication systems (CMCS), and may never or rarely meet face-to-face. Relational links among team members have been found to be a significant contributor to the effectiveness of information exchange in the use of CMCS. In most cases, team members receive little or no training to improve the effectiveness of this form of communication. When training is used, it often focuses on software utilization skills, not on interpersonal communication dynamics. This paper discusses the effect of virtual team communication training on group interactions, especially for enhancing these relational links and thereby improving communication and information exchange in virtual teams. It was found that teams that were given appropriate training exhibited improved perceptions of the interaction process over time, specifically with regard to trust, commitment and frank expression between members. Discussion of the role of training on virtual team processes and outcomes is discussed and future research implications are presented.     

Team dynamics in virtual,partially distributed teams: Optimal role fulfillment

In this study, we explored team roles in virtual, partially distributed teams, or vPDTs (teams with at least one co-located subgroup and at least two subgroups that are geographically dispersed but that collaborate virtually). Past research on virtual teams emphasizes the importance of team dynamics. We argue that the following three roles are particularly important for high functioning virtual teams: Project Coordinator, Implementer and Completer-Finisher. We hypothesized that the highest performing vPDTs will have 1) a single Project Coordinator for each subgroup, 2) multiple Implementers within the team, and 3) fewer Completer-Finishers within the team. A sample of 28 vPDTs with members working on two different continents provides support for the second and third hypothesized relationships, but not the first.     

The Mind’s Eye on Personal Profiles: A Cognitive Perspective on Profile Elements that Inform Initial Trustworthiness Assessments and Social Awareness in Virtual Project Teams

Collaboration in virtual project teams heavily relies on interpersonal trust, for which perceived professional trustworthiness is an important determinant. In face to face teams colleagues form a first impression of each others trustworthiness based on signs and signals that are ‘naturally’ available. However, virtual project team members do not have the same opportunities to assess trustworthiness. This study provides insight in the information elements that virtual project team members value to assess professional trustworthiness in the initial phase of collaboration. The trustworthiness formed initially is highly influential on interpersonal trust formed during latter collaboration. We expect trustors in virtual teams to especially value information elements (= small containers for personal data stimulating the availability of specific information) that provide them with relevant cues of trust warranting properties of a trustee. We identified a list with fifteen information elements that were highly valued across trustors (n?=?226) to inform their trustworthiness assessments. We then analyzed explanations for preferences with the help of a theory-grounded coding scheme for perceived trustworthiness. Results show that respondents value those particular information elements that provide them with multiple cues (signaling multiple trust warranting properties) to assess the trustworthiness of a trustee. Information elements that provide unique cues (signaling for a specific trust warranting property) could not be identified. Insight in these information preferences can inform the design of artefacts, such as personal profile templates, to support acquaintanceships and social awareness especially in the initial phase of a virtual project team.     

Exploring the effects of trust,task interdependence and virtualness on knowledge sharing in teams

The sharing of knowledge within teams is critical to team functioning. However, working with team members who are in different locations (i.e. in virtual teams) may introduce communication challenges and reduce opportunities for rich interactions, potentially affecting knowledge sharing and its outcomes. Therefore, using questionnaire‐based data, this study examined the potential effects of different aspects of virtuality on a knowledge‐sharing model. Social exchange theory was used to develop a model relating trust to knowledge sharing and knowledge sharing to team effectiveness. The moderating effects of virtuality and task interdependence on these relationships were examined. A strong positive relationship was found between trust and knowledge sharing for all types of teams (local, hybrid and distributed), but the relationship was stronger when task interdependence was low, supporting the position that trust is more critical in weak structural situations. Knowledge sharing was positively associated with team effectiveness outcomes; however, this relationship was moderated by team imbalance and hybrid structures, such that the relationship between sharing and effectiveness was weaker. Organizations should therefore avoid creating unbalanced or hybrid virtual teams.     

Improving the Effectiveness of Virtual Teams by Adapting Team Processes

Results are presented from a study on virtual teams and whether appropriate early training can positively influence their effectiveness. Sixteen teams that worked together for periods ranging from three months to three years were studied. Team processes that emerged naturally from long-duration teams were formalized and taught to shorter duration teams. These shorter duration teams comprised three different cohorts, each of which received different levels of training. It was found that the adoption of formal procedures and structured processes significantly increased the effectiveness of virtual teams. Tasks that lend themselves to a structured approach were most effectively accomplished during virtual meetings, whereas face-to-face interactions were better for relatively unstructured, discussion intensive tasks. The performance of a virtual team was significantly improved when team processes were adapted to the affordances of the CMC environment. It is shown that this adaptation can occur very rapidly if teams are trained on the technology as well as on work processes that best exploit it.     

Conceptualizing and measuring the virtuality of teams

Virtual teams (VTs) are teams whose members do not share a common workspace all of the time, and must therefore collaborate using communication and collaboration tools such as email, videoconferencing, etc. Although the body of research on VTs is quickly expanding, to date, the field has yet to produce a comprehensive and coherent foundation upon which future research can be based, and empirical findings based on a substantive sample of real VTs remain limited at this time. This study fills a void in the VT literature with respect to defining and operationalizing the construct of degree of virtuality, and responds to calls for research that studies ongoing VTs, under real conditions. Data were collected from 30 VTs working in a Canadian technology‐based organization. Degree of virtuality was defined to include three dimensions: the proportion of work time that the VT members spend working apart (team time worked virtually), the proportion of the team's members who work virtually (member virtuality) and the degree of separation of the team's members (distance virtuality). The VTs in this study were found to have varying degrees of virtuality, and although the three dimensions were not highly intercorrelated, all were found to be significantly correlated to variables that have been previously linked to VT effectiveness. The correlations were all in the expected direction (negative), indicating that higher degrees of virtuality are associated with perceived decreases in the quality of team interactions and performance. The results of this research would suggest that the more that teams move away from the proximate form, the more the traditional measures of team effectiveness are negatively impacted.     

Fostering trust in virtual project teams: Towards a design framework grounded in a TrustWorthiness ANtecedents (TWAN) schema

Several collaboration problems in virtual project teams that work in knowledge-intensive contexts can be attributed to a hampered process of interpersonal trust formation. Solutions to trust formation problems need to be based on an understanding of how interpersonal trust forms in face-to-face project teams as well as on insight into how this process differs in virtual teams. Synthesizing literature from various disciplines, we propose a model for the formation of interpersonal trust between project team members. Taking this model as a starting point, we analyse how virtual settings may alter or even obstruct the process of trust formation. One method to improve the formation of interpersonal trust in virtual settings is to facilitate the assessment of trustworthiness. This can be done by making information available about individual virtual project team members. Previous research in virtual project teams focussed principally on the medium by which information is spread, for example, by phone, mail, or videoconferencing. Most researchers failed to take the specific content of the information into account, although there is general agreement that personal, non-task-related information is important to foster trust. For this, we propose to use the antecedents of trustworthiness, which until now have mainly been used as a framework to measure trust, as a design framework instead. This framework of antecedents can also be used to determine which type of information is relevant to assess each other’s trustworthiness. We review existing literature on the antecedents of trustworthiness and extend the well-accepted antecedents of ‘ability’, ‘benevolence’ and ‘integrity’ with several other antecedents, such as ‘communality’ and ‘accountability’. Together, these form the TrustWorthiness ANtecedents (TWAN) schema. We describe how these antecedents can be used to determine which information is relevant for team members assessing others’ trustworthiness. In future research we will first verify this extended cognitive schema of trustworthiness (TWAN) empirically and then apply it to the design of artefacts or guidelines, such as a personal identity profile to support the assessment of trustworthiness in virtual project teams.     

Participation in videoconferenced meetings: user disposition and meeting context

Although videoconferencing systems are increasingly becoming important in the support of geographically dispersed groups, there are few studies that identify the types of tasks that are most effectively performed within videoconferenced meetings. This study investigates the relationship between (a) technology quality and communication activity during videoconferenced meetings, and (b) the intention of participants to support subsequent meetings. The data consists of a sample (n=295) of participants in a group videoconferencing system trial conducted by twenty government departments and incorporated bodies. Meeting sessions involved real work activities chosen by each of the participating groups. The results show that perceptions about the quality of technology and the communication activity conducted during the session are significantly related to the intentions of participants to support the use of the technology. Contrary to what might have been presumed, the findings also sbow that a significant majority of the participating groups chose communication activities least suited to the processing capabilities of the videoconferencing media.     

Preparing to work in the virtual organization

Forming virtual organizations (VOs) is a new workplace strategy that is also needed to prepare information, technology, and knowledge workers for functioning well in inter-organizational teams. University information studies programs can simulate VOs in courses and teach certain skill sets that are needed in VO work: critical thinking, analytical methods, ethical problem solving, stakeholder analysis, and writing policy are among the needed skills and abilities. Simulated virtual teams allow participants to learn to trust team members and to understand how communication and product development can work effectively in a virtual workspace. It is hoped that some of these methods could be employed in corporate training programs also.In an innovative course, inter-university VOs were created to develop information products. Groups in four geographically dispersed universities cooperated in the project; at its conclusion, students answered a self-administered survey about their experience. Each team’s success or difficulties were apparently closely related to issues of trust in the team process. Access to and ease of communication tools also played a role in the participants’ perceptions of the learning experience and teamwork.     

On the Need for Mixed Media in Distributed Requirements Negotiations

Achieving agreement with respect to software requirements is a collaborative process that traditionally relies on same-time, same-place interactions. As the trend toward geographically distributed software development continues, colocated meetings are becoming increasingly problematic. Our research investigates the impact of computer-mediated communication on the performance of distributed client/developer teams involved in the collaborative development of a requirements specification. Drawing on media-selection theories, we posit that a combination of lean and rich media is needed for an effective process of requirements negotiations when stakeholders are geographically dispersed. In this paper, we present an empirical study that investigates the performance of six educational global project teams involved in a negotiation process using both asynchronous text-based and synchronous videoconferencing-based communication modes. The findings indicate that requirement negotiations were more effective when the groups conducted asynchronous structured discussions of requirement issues prior to the synchronous negotiation meeting. Asynchronous discussions were useful in resolving issues related to uncertainty in requirements, thus allowing synchronous negotiations to focus more on removing ambiguities in the requirements.     

Team member selection decisions for virtual versus face-to-face teams

We compared the importance placed on task skills and four personal characteristics when selecting members of virtual and face-to-face teams. We expected that task skills would be most important in selection decisions for virtual teams due to the lack of physical proximity and visibility, whereas personal characteristics would be more important for face-to-face team selection. In a policy capturing study, 100 undergraduates’ decision policies indicated that task skills had a greater impact on selection decisions for virtual teams. Gender also influenced selection decisions, with women choosing more female than male applicants for both types of teams. Applicants’ race, physical attractiveness, and attitudinal similarity to participants did not influence selection decisions for either type of team; however, when assessed by self-report evaluations, these characteristics and gender, had a greater influence for face-to-face teams.     

TeamSpirit: Design, implementation, and evaluation of a Web-based group decision support system

Distributed teams can carry out critical tasks with appropriate decision support technologies. The architecture and detailed design of a Web-based GDSS, called TeamSpirit, are discussed to address the challenges of building a Web-based GDSS. A series of empirical studies are reported to assess the effectiveness of TeamSpirit in supporting distributed group problem solving when in-person facilitation is not possible. Results indicate that giving creative problem solving training to TeamSpirit participants had positive impacts on team performance. Users who received brief TeamSpirit training were able to design and facilitate virtual meetings by themselves and achieved better team performance than control groups.     

Team development and group processes of virtual learning teams

This study describes the community building process of virtual learning teams as they form, establish roles and group norms, and address conflict. Students enrolled in an HRD masters program taught entirely online were studied to determine (1) how virtual learning teams develop their group process, and (2) what process and strategies they use as they work through the stages of group development. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry were used to capture the dynamic interaction within groups and the underlying factors that guided group process and decision-making. The results show that virtual learning groups can collaborate effectively from a distance to accomplish group tasks. The development of virtual learning teams is closely connected to the timeline for their class projects. Virtual teams are also similar in terms of their task process and the use of communication technologies. In contrast to face-to-face teams, the leadership role of virtual teams is shared among team members. Recommendations are discussed in order to facilitate peak integration of virtual learning teams into Internet-based training courses.     

Institutional boundaries and trust of virtual teams in collaborative design: An experimental study in a virtual world environment

Members of virtual teams often collaborate within and across institutional boundaries. This research investigates the effects of boundary spanning conditions on the development of team trust and team satisfaction. Two hundred and eighty-two participants carried out a collaborative design task over several weeks in a virtual world, Second Life. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to examine our research model, which compares individual level measurement between two boundary spanning team conditions. The results indicate that trusting beliefs have a positive impact on team trust, which in turn, influences team satisfaction. Further, we found that, compared to cross-boundary teams, within-boundary teams exhibited not only higher trusting beliefs and higher satisfaction with the collaboration process but also a stronger relationship between team trust and team satisfaction. These results suggest that trust and group theories need to be interpreted in light of institutional affiliation and contextual variables. An important practical implication is that trust can be fostered in a virtual world environment and collaboration on complex tasks can be carried out effectively in virtual worlds. However, within-boundary virtual teams are preferred over cross-boundary virtual teams if satisfaction with the collaboration process is of the highest priority.